I have been at Ohio for a quarter and a half and everyone tells me about this big Miami rivalry. I tried to figure it out, but I'm not buying it.
Miami sweatshirts and T-shirts are seen on campus on a daily basis. Do you think people walk around Ohio State with Michigan sweatshirts on? I sincerely doubt it.
Not only do I not think Miami and Ohio is a great rivalry nationally, I don't even think they are the best rivalry at Ohio University.
The Ohio club hockey team and the Penn State club hockey team rivalry is the best rivalry for Bobcat students.
I know what all of you are thinking. How can a club sport be a better rivalry than a varsity sport? I will respond to your question with a question of my own.
Have you ever been to Bird Arena for a hockey game?
Sure you have to shell out a whole five dollars to get in the game, but they charge that five bucks because they can. Athens is a hockey town and people want to see hockey.
No other sport at Ohio sells out ever, with the exception of the Pitt football game. The hockey team does it for almost every home game.
Penn State and Ohio have been the top dogs in their national league for the last 10 years. When was the last time Ohio and Miami were the top two in basketball, football or baseball in the Mid-American Conference, let alone nationally?
When Penn State and Ohio face-off, it determines who is No. 1 or No. 2 in the national rankings. When Miami came to Peden Stadium last November it was to determine nothing. Actually, if the Bobcats would have won, then they would have tied with Miami, Akron and Bowling Green for first in the East division of the MAC.
That accomplishment wouldn't have earned them a trip to the D.P. Dough Calzone Bowl, which is played on the rugby fields behind my dorm.
Penn State and Ohio are in a constant recruiting battle. Ohio currently has 11 players on the roster from Pennsylvania. I'd like to know when was the last time a football player chose Ohio instead of Miami?
The Penn State and Ohio rivalry may not have the longevity of Ohio and Miami. The Icers have only been Ohio's main rival for the last six to eight years.
I have talked to a couple members of the hockey team, and they despise Penn State. Those guys are fired up and they want a victory.
I watched the Miami and Ohio basketball game two weeks ago and the Ohio team didn't look fired up. They looked more extinguished than fired up.
After talking to Ohio coach Dan Morris, I think I understand the identity of the Penn State rivalry. The persona of the Ohio player and the Penn State player differs.
Ohio players are characters. They are all different, they are from all over the country and they all have fun playing hockey. Morris recruits various personalities, which creates a more relaxed and dare I say entertaining locker room.
The majority of the Icers roster is composed of players from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Icers coach Joe Batista runs a tight, dare I say dictatorship-like program, based on testimony from Morris and Icer-turned-Bobcat player, Jim Roach.
From my understanding of the two teams, Batista is the George Steinbrenner to Morris's Terry Francona - the manager of the World Series-winning Boston Red Sox.
It'd be great to have a major football and basketball rival that I could loathe, but it's just not here. Maybe in the next four years the Miami rivalry will make more sense to me or maybe a new rivalry for Ohio football and basketball will arise.
Until then I have only one thing Ohio: It's a hockey night in Athens.
- Corey Ryan is a freshman journalism major. Send him an email at cr976205@ohiou.edu.
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Corey Ryan
